Chasing Slow With Nature!
Nurture a relationship with nature – how much we notice, think about and appreciate our natural surroundings – is critical in supporting good mental health
By Nona Walia
How much time do you spend staring at a screen each day?
From a stroll through a city park to a day spent hiking in the wilderness, exposure to nature has been linked to a host of benefits, including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in empathy and cooperation. Most research so far has focused on green spaces such as parks and forests, and researchers are now also beginning to study the benefits of blue spaces, places with river and ocean views. But nature comes in all shapes and sizes, and psychological research is still fine-tuning our understanding of its potential benefits.
Chasing slow is an art in itself. A world where you are flying kites, reading books, gardening. There is return of slow cooking, home chefs are whipping up recipes that are time-consuming and slow. Suddenly, chasing slow is the new fast. Slowing down isn’t hard anymore. It seems easier than juggling the chaos of an overstuffed life. Author Erin Loechner in her book, Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path, gives lessons in how to completely simplify your life, “If you choose to slow your life, to live intentionally, to subtract belongings or schedules or expectations – if you tell the truth about yourself to yourself – you will begin to notice tension around you. We can chase more, in the fast lane. We can chase slow. I wonder how many of us are trading in our peace, our passions, our pliés in search of something more. How many of us are fighting for the American dream, running the rat race, praying to scale Maslow’s self-actualization pyramid, when really we just want to dance?”
Every cloud has a silver lining, and sometimes, this silver lining is all that we can hold on to in difficult times and keep ourselves positive.
Experimental findings show how impressive nature’s healing powers can be-just a few moments of green can perk up a tired brain
Photographing their plants and pots in the balcony. Says Pune-based Deepika Taksande, plant influencer, insta handle @gulmohar_nest, “Upcycling your garden and home decor, is something that everyone is doing at home. Painting pots, decorating walls — the ideas to slow down and DIY is becoming a part of the slowdown.”
Even the sounds of nature may be healing. People who listened to nature sounds like crickets chirping and waves crashing performed better on demanding cognitive tests than those who listened to urban sounds like traffic and the clatter of a busy café.
With so many benefits linked to nature, people naturally wonder: How much time outside is enough?
The amount of time one spends in nature isn’t the only element to consider-it’s also beneficial to feel connected to the natural world even when you’re stuck at a desk. Researchers call this feeling by a variety of names, including nature relatedness, connectedness to nature and inclusion of nature in self, and they’ve developed a number of scales to measure the trait. Luminaries like Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Virginia Woolf, and Albert Einstein have written eloquently about the benefits of taking in the natural world.
In Japan, the director of the ministry of forestry is a social scientist, not a botanist, which hints at the country’s commitment to health-through-nature. Trees are seen more as a mental health resource than one that can be extracted for profit.
According to Psychology Today, Nature is the purest pathway to inner peace, and it recharges one’s energy and renovates the personality. We feel blessed when we get a chance to breathe in a pollution-free environment, and we inhale clean air and smell the fragrance of flowers.
Nature has a magical impact on our health; it reduces inflammation and prevents many diseases by boosting immunity.
We must invest our time to extract eternal peace of mind, body, and soul in this urban century. The rejuvenation of positive energy will empower us to perform our tasks with a happy and healthy mindset.
